Graduate Degree Holders Research Articles

Valuing the benefits of the education provided by public universities: A case study of Minnesota

This study estimates the value of the private and public benefits that accrue to Minnesota residents from state government subsidies to higher education. In 2005, the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system received $832 million from Minnesota's state government to support educational programs. These subsidies allow these institutions to offer lower tuition rates, increasing the number of Minnesotans with bachelor and graduate degrees. We calculate that removing these subsidies would eventually lead to 14,000 fewer graduate degree holders in Minnesota, and reduce those with bachelor's degrees or “some college” by 42,000. The annual economic cost of these subsidies is about $326 million; this is less than annual state appropriations because most of those appropriations are income transfers from taxpayers to students, not an economic cost. We estimate that the annual value of the benefits of these subsidies is between $531 and $786 million ($381 and $570 million) when a 3% (5%) discount rate is used. We also discuss some of the income distribution consequences.

Graduate Education and Federal Career Success: How Well Does the MPA Stack Up?

Using a 1% sample of federal personnel records for 1983 through 2003, we compare the career success of employees with master’s degrees in public administration (MPA) to those with bachelor’s degrees or graduate degrees in other fields—especially law, business administration, and the social sciences, the degrees most likely to compete for our students. Federal employees with master’s degrees in any field tend to be one grade higher and earn 13 to 16% more than comparable employees with bachelor’s degrees. Although federal employees with law degrees earn substantially more than other graduate degree-holders, those with a master’s in public administration have salaries, grades, and supervisory authority comparable to those who have a master’s in business administration (MBA) and those with master’s degrees in the social sciences.

Graduate Education and Federal Career Success: How Well Does the MPA Stack Up?

Using a one percent sample of federal personnel records for 1983 through 2003, we compare the career success of employees with master's degrees in public administration to those of employees with bachelor's degrees or graduate degrees in other fields - especially law, business administration, and the social sciences, the degrees most likely to compete for our students. Federal employees with master's degrees in any field tend to be one grade higher and to earn 13 to 16% more than comparable employees with bachelor's degrees. Although federal employees with law degrees earn substantially more than other graduate degree-holders, MPAs have salaries, grades, and supervisory authority comparable to those of MBAs and those with master's degrees in the social sciences.

The tree of science and original sin: Do christian religious beliefs constrain the supply of scientists?

This paper considers the effects of religion and religiosity on the supply of scientists. Parameters of a random utility model are estimated from General Social Survey (GSS) data where the decision to earn a graduate degree in a quantitative science depends upon ability, and conditional on religious beliefs, the post-temporal afterlife costs. We find that the individual decision to pursue a graduate degree in science is sensitive to beliefs about the literal truth of the Bible and an afterlife. Our results also suggest that the underrepresentation of black Americans among graduate science degree holders is explained by their overrepresentation in the population of individuals raised in fundamentalist religious denominations.

Higher education, brain drain and overseas employment in the Philippines: towards a differentiated set of solutions

This paper describes the interlocking conflicts and resulting problems of higher education in the Philippines. The educational system produces first degree graduates for certain professions and fields of specialization while failing to produce enough graduates in ‘unpopular’ fields of pure science, middle-level technician specializations, and graduate training for research and higher education. The few scientists and graduate degree holders trained abroad migrate to other countries, making the shortage even more acute. For oversubscribed professions, graduates seek overseas employment. In the meantime, the mismatch continues. The author proposes different solutions for each problem; no uniform solution is possible as the nature of the problem is different for each area. For oversubscribed professions, the writer accepts overseas employment as a viable option; it is a source of foreign exchange and a natural way of population control. For undersubscribed professions he proposes a system of incentives tied to a period of mandatory service, after which the beneficiary may exercise his/her options. The writer concludes with some general insights about allowing the ‘invisible hand’ to regulate the process of manpower demand and supply but supports limited and specific government interventions at the right moment.

Returns to a specific graduate education

The research on returns (or gains) to graduate-level education is mixed. Some graduate degrees “pay off” in increased earnings while some graduate degree holders actually receive less salary than their BS/BA counterparts. This study showed that a nontraditional, off-campus, master's degree from the University of Utah did pay off for its graduates. A research project matching master's graduates with nonattendees indicated significant gains for the graduates with respect to salary, promotability, and perceptions of self and job. The study will be used as a pilot for a nationwide research project surveying and interviewing some 400 graduates from Utah's program.

AN ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO PROFESSIONAL STAFF TURNOVER IN PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS1

ABSTRACTA sample of graduate and undergraduate degree holders in accounting are being studied during the first five years of their public accounting careers. Data on the biographical characteristics, vocational interests, and personality factors are analyzed in this study to discover if different profiles exist for those who remain with their firm of original employment in public accounting following graduation and those who find new positions. A number of significant differences were found. The findings should be of benefit to educators and representatives from the accounting profession because of their mutual concern with recruiting, staff development and retention, and academic preparation and career counseling.

International dimensions of the community college

A worldwide junior community college communications network is gradually forming as educators and government officials generate a steady stream of correspondence following their inter-country visits. The flow across national boundaries of people and mail concerned with the development of the junior community college is increasing sharply. More countries than ever before are now establishing or seriously considering new forms of post-secondary institutions and each solicits information and ideas from a variety of sources. Behind this burgeoning interest in the community college lies an almost universal need for more efficient ways of preparing technical manpower and for extending higher education opportunities to growing numbers of people. Each nation anxious to industrialize or modernize its economy is concentrating energy in developing the means for producing more effective manpower according to its needs. The comprehensive community college as developed in the United States and in Canada has special appeal to those nations eager to find supplements or alternatives to university education which has not concentrated sufficiently on manpower education of the kinds most desperately needed. A quick review of national economic projections will readily show in country after country severe shortages of technician or middle level manpower and in many places a surplus of graduate degree holders who are unemployed or unemployable. Universities providing the usual academic programs seem unwilling or unable to change to meet modern societal needs. Thus the interest in other patterns of education has become basic to economic survival and has led to the consequent intensive study of the

Chemists' median salaries rose 91% in 1964-66

As prophesied by the American Chemical Society two years ago, chemists' annual salaries generally rose $1000 between 1964 and 1966 (C&EN, Dec. 6, 1965, page 90). At least, median salaries for graduate degree holders notched upward by this amount. Bachelors had to be content with a $600 increment over the same span. Overall, the median annual salary for the profession climbed 9.1% from $11,000 in 1964 to $12,000 last year. Specifically, the gains logged at each degree level looked like this, according to the Society's latest comprehensive analysis of economic data on some 53,-000 chemical scientists furnished by the National Science Foundation: A glance backward in time shows that chemists with graduate degrees have done reasonably well in this decade, posting overall gains of nearly 307c. B.S. degree holders, however, experienced only a 17% rise, largely because of the $9000 plateau they reported in 1960-62. But numbers like these tell ...